The Graph, which serves as an indexing protocol for “organizing and efficiently accessing” data from blockchains and storage networks, has introduced its Curator Program. Crypto data and research platform sites CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap, Messari, Delphi Digital, Zapper, Synthetix, Pool Together, LivePeer, mStable, and Balancer have all pre-registered to be Curators on The Graph Network.
As previously covered, The Graph supports indexing data from Ethereum (ETH), POA, and IPFS, and more networks will reportedly be added soon. More than 1,700 subgraphs have been introduced for various apps including Balancer, Uniswap, Synthetix, Aragon, Aragon, Gnosis, Livepeer, DAOstack, Aave, and Decentraland.
The Graph team noted in a blog post:
“With over 210 Indexers running Graph Nodes in Mission Control, the incentivized testnet, The Graph is in the final stages of decentralizing the query layer of (decentralized finance) DeFi and Web3. During Mission Control, Indexers have been operating servers running The Graph’s software, completing technical missions and contributing to improving The Graph Network. Now that Indexers are busy running an early version of the network, The Graph is inviting Curators to register to join them.”
TM Lee, co-founder at CoinGecko, stated that The Graph has allowed our data site to effectively track the DeFi markets being launched on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. Lee added that the team at CoinGecko is always trying to find new crypto market data that can be useful to their users. He also mentioned that CoinGecko is looking forward to participating as curator on The Graph network to “help push the frontiers of data aggregation in a decentralized setting. “
As explained by The Graph team, the developers of decentralized applications (dApps) must work with accurate and efficient APIs. However, subgraphs make it challenging to figure out whether they’re offering good quality information, because they’re open-source and can be developed by anyone. To solve this problem, The Graph offers Curation, which allows more reliable information sharing in The Graph ecosystem. Curators are important to the protocol as they “signal on specific subgraphs to indicate to Indexers which data should be indexed.”
Nodar Janashia, Co-founder at Zapper, remarked:
“Querying on-chain data is not trivial and can be very costly. The Graph gives Zapper a nice and effective way to query the blockchain and allows us to push new protocol integrations faster. We are excited to be a Curator on The Graph Network to help signal to Indexers which subgraphs they should query. “
The Graph developers claim that we’re at the beginning of a “revolution” in how humans “cooperate and organize on the Internet.” They believe that as more data becomes available via open protocols, well-trained or knowledgeable Curators who make decisions regarding which data to surface will become even more important.
In June 2020, The Graph team secured $5 million in capital through an investment round. The Graph is planning to use the funds raised to support the launch of the incentivized testnet, which serves as the next logical step towards its (main) network launch.